Local Store Experience

[Jooliaaah]

I recently bought a new iPhone from a corporate store in Portland, OR. The sales person was nice enough. They were out of the phone I wanted so he said he'd have it shipped to me. He also sold me an Apple One subscription. He said I could do everything myself once the phone arrived. I only had to go back to the store to return my old phone for a credit. It turns out I could not do everything myself. I had to call the Verizon 800 number to get my phone number transferred to the new phone and have them help me get my all my data switched over. I kept getting error messages. It took hours. It also took hours to get all my new passwords in. And once I reset my old phone, in preparation of turning it in, all my contacts (from the last 3 years) disappeared from my new phone. I was frustrated. I went into the store on a Friday night. I was the only customer. There were 5 males working on the floor. The person I approached couldn't have been less interested in helping me when I told him why I was there. In the middle of me explaining about my missing contacts he put my phone on the table in front of him and got on his phone. I thought he was looking up a solution. I stood there for 5 minutes. He started talking to another employee about a movie. Then he grabbed another phone out of his pocket and started scrolling Instagram. I asked him if he was waiting for information from me and while scrolling Instagram said, "Nope. What is it you need?" I asked to see a manager. He told me no. I asked if one was there, he said in the back. I asked him to go get him. He said "no, you can wait until he comes out, if he comes out." Meanwhile, the 4 other male employees - all standing within 10 feet of us, acted like nothing was happening. I asked one of them to get the manager. He did. And the manager (another male), when I started explaining what happened said he didn't want to hear it and what did I need. Meanwhile, the employee that was so rude was making comments under his breath and staring at me like he wanted to fight me. I'm a 52 year old female. I asked his manager if he was going to allow it. He rolled his eyes and told that employee to go in the back. As he was walking in the back he stared me down the entire time, in a very aggressive way.  His manager watched the entire thing, as did the 4 other males in the store. I told the manager why I was there, that I was returning my phone, needed help with my missing contacts, Apple One and I needed to buy a new case. The manager took my phone, gave me a receipt and was done helping me. I left in tears. My husband who was in the car, asked what happened. He went in and told them they owed me an apology. He's 62 and was mad, but was not aggressive. They laughed at him. They fist bumped each other and told him to leave. Today I received an email from Verizon saying he is banned from the store and accusing him of being hostile, abusive and challenging them to a fight. That just isn't true. Also,  I looked at the reviews for this store today and it seems a lot of females have left in tears. There is something really wrong with the culture of this store. I need to file a formal complaint at a minimum.  I don't care about the letter really as we will NEVER step foot in that store again. It was traumatic and I'd be scared to go back. My issue is - Verizon seems to make it really difficult to contact anyone above a store. I was told district managers do not get involved with customer issues. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this? I will not be letting this go.

[vzw_customer_support]

I am so sorry to learn that you went through an experience like this, Jooliaaah. This certainly does not live up to an expereince we would want for anyone, especially when you were at the store for help, and to make an additional purchase for a new case for your phone. I would be happy to take your feedback and lift it up within our leadership team here, and also help with any outstanding concerns you may have. I'll be sending a private message to collect some additional details to lift up to our leadership team.

-Joseph